Source: Children’s Health Defense

Nestlé Accused of ‘Risking Health of Babies for Profit’ Over Added Sugar in Cereals Sold in African Countries

The Guardian reported:

Nestlé is still adding sugar to most baby cereals sold across Africa, according to an investigation by campaigners who have accused the company of “putting the health of African babies at risk for profit.” The food firm was accused of “double standards” over the researchers’ findings, which come at a time when rates of childhood obesity are rising on the continent, prompting calls for Nestlé to remove all added sugar from baby-food products.

Nestlé described the investigation, from Public Eye, a Swiss group that calls itself a global justice organization, as “misleading.” A company spokesperson said that having cereals sweet enough to be palatable to infants was vital in combating malnutrition. The firm said their recipes were well within limits set by national regulations in the countries concerned. Public Eye researchers worked with activists in more than 20 African countries to buy 94 samples of Cerelac products marketed for babies aged six months and above, which were sent to a laboratory for analysis.

The laboratory found added sugar in more than 90% of baby cereals, with an average of 6g, or one-and-a-half teaspoons, per serving. Most products without added sugar were imported, they said, and had originally been intended for sale in Europe, apart from two variants recently launched in South Africa.

Campbell Soup at Risk of Being ‘Shut Down’ in Florida After Secret Audio

Newsweek reported:

Florida’s attorney general said he will “shut down” violators of the state’s law on lab-grown meat after launching an investigation into Campbell’s over a secret recording of an executive at the company. “We don’t do the fake, lab grown meat here in Florida. We’ll enforce the law and shut down!” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said on X. Uthmeier said the state’s Consumer Protection division is launching an investigation into the company.

WDIV broadcast portions of the recording. In the recording, a speaker identified as Campbell’s Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, Martin Bally, is heard saying, “We have s**t for f***ing poor people. Who buys our s**t?” “I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore. It’s not healthy now that I know what the f***‘s in it,” the speaker said.

The speaker also referenced “bioengineered meat,” saying, “I don’t wanna eat a f***ing, a piece of chicken that came from a 3D printer.”

Could Ultra-Processed Foods Trigger Overeating in Teens?

U.S. News & World Report reported:

After two weeks of being placed on a diet high in ultra-processed foods, people in their late teens and early twenties continued to take in an excessive amount of calories, even when not hungry, new research shows.The same was not true for similarly aged people who’d been placed on a two-week diet that shunned ultra-processed fare in favor of healthier, unprocessed foods.

Much of the excessive calorie intake among those exposed to ultra-processed foods came from snacking. “Snacking when not hungry is an important predictor of later weight gain in young people, and it seems ultra-processed food exposure increases this tendency in adolescents,” noted study co-author Alex DiFeliceantonio. She’s an assistant professor with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech in Blackburn.

As the researchers noted, ultra processed foods currently comprise up to 65% of daily calories for Americans ages 15 to 24. Ultra-processed foods are made mostly from substances extracted from whole foods, like saturated fats, starches and added sugars. They also contain a wide variety of additives to make them more tasty, attractive and shelf-stable. Examples include packaged baked goods, sugary cereals, ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat products and deli cold cuts. Drilling down to how certain foods might spur overeating — studies involving brain activity and certain biomarkers — is also needed, the researchers said.

Tyson Agrees to Settlement Over Climate-Smart Beef Claims

The New Lede reported:

Tyson Foods will stop asserting it is pursuing production of “climate-smart” beef and working to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions as part of a legal settlement of a lawsuit that challenged the veracity of the company’s environmental claims. The settlement ends the lawsuit brought last year by the Environmental Working Group accusing the world’s second-largest meat company of false and misleading marketing to consumers.

The lawsuit specifically took issue with Tyson’s pledge to achieve “net-zero” climate emissions by 2050, and its attachment of the climate-smart phrase to some beef products. The lawsuit said that Tyson’s greenhouse gas emissions are greater than those of many industrialized countries, and the company had no real plans to achieve the net-zero goal it presented to consumers.

Tyson denied the allegations, saying it had invested more than $65 million to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to its beef production as part of its efforts to achieve the stated net-zero goal. The settlement agreement states that Tyson will refrain for five years from continuing to make its claims about emissions until and unless an expert verifies the claims are valid. As well, for five years, Tyson will not make the contested claims about climate-smart beef and will specifically not describe a “Brazen Beef” product as “climate smart” or “climate friendly,” unless an expert verifies the claims are accurate.

‘Perfect Storm’: Doctors Warn of Alarming Rise in Adult-Onset Food Allergies

Fox 5 reported:

More adults are suddenly developing allergic reactions later in life — and experts aren’t sure why. Nearly 50% of adults developed at least one food allergy in adulthood, according to a 2019 investigation published in JAMA. Illana Golant, founder and CEO of the Food and Allergy Fund (FAF) in New York City, told Fox News Digital that she developed allergies in her 40s. “That is not fully understood at all or recognized … we don’t know why they’re starting at certain points,” she said.

FAF hosted a forum last week in Washington, D.C., attended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Chief Martin Makary and The National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya. Health officials and researchers are investigating whether allergies may be caused by gut health microbes.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Makary shared how the function of microbiomes has evolved over time. The intestine hosts over a billion different types of bacteria, which normally live in balance, according to Makary. “But when it’s altered by the modern-day diet and by antibiotics and other exposures … that disequilibrium can cause inflammation [and] health problems, and it may be implicated in food allergies,” he said.

Hungarian Parliament Votes to Ban Cultivated Meat, Despite EU Criticism & Legal Uncertainties

Green Queen Media reported:

Lawmakers in Hungary have overwhelmingly voted in favour of banning cultivated meat, even though the EU Commission has called the move “unjustified” and experts have questioned its legality. After nearly two years of attempts, the Hungarian government has succeeded in its attempt to stifle a food product that isn’t even on the market yet.

In a vote on Tuesday (November 18), Hungary’s parliament voted to ban the production, distribution and marketing of cultivated meat, with 140 in favour, 10 against, and 18 abstentions. Exceptions to the ban are only applicable for medical and veterinary purposes. In his justification for the ban, the bill cited the need to protect “traditional rural lifestyles and human health” (as well as the environment), warning against the “potential dangers of non-traditional technologies”.

“Food production [must] be linked to the land, as this is the basis of our traditions and culture, and if we move away from this, we will lose our identity,” agriculture minister István Nagy said a day before the vote. “The spread of meat produced in laboratory conditions would result in a lifestyle change that would completely upset European culture, which we cannot allow.”